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A couple weekends ago, I visited Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, and this past weekend I visited Colonial Williamsburg, which isn’t far from Mathews, with my daughter Patty and some of her friends. What an amazing, special place it is! To quote Colonial Williamsburg’s website, “Williamsburg was the thriving capital of Virginia when the dream of American freedom and independence was taking shape and the colony was a rich and powerful land stretching west to the Mississippi River and north to the Great Lakes. For 81 formative years, from 1699 to 1780, Williamsburg was the political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most populous, and most influential of the American colonies. It was here that the fundamental concepts of our republic—responsible leadership, a sense of public service, self-government, and individual liberty—were nurtured under the leadership of patriots such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and Peyton Randolph. Near the end of the Revolutionary War and through the influence of Thomas Jefferson, the seat of government of Virginia was moved up the peninsula to the safer and more centrally located city of Richmond.”
For nearly a century and a half after the Revolutionary War, Williamsburg was a quiet college town, home of the College of William and Mary, the second oldest college or university in the country. In 1926, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, shared his dream of preserving the city’s historic buildings with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who is largely responsible for the preservation of this remarkable national treasure. The historic buildings have been lovingly restored and preserved, and the Colonial way of life is likewise preserved and presented by interpreters.
Patty and I must have been bad! Here we are in the pillory, a common form of punishment during the Colonial period.
Patty, her friends, and I so much enjoyed the Colonial gardens that even offer plants for sale, the oxen coming down the streets, and the different kinds of buggies and wagons. A special treat was getting to march along with the Drum and Fife Corps and hear their music. We followed them all the way to the Peyton Randolph House, the oldest wing of which dates to 1715.
Marching along with the Drum and Fife Corps. The building in the background is the Courthouse, where lawyer Benjamin Waller read the Declaration of Independence from its steps in 1776.
We took a moment to visit one of my authorized dealers located in Williamsburg right across from the College of William and Mary. Steven King at Gallery on Merchants Square is a relatively new dealer, and I hadn’t been to the gallery or met him before. He specializes in originals, and the gallery is beautiful.
Next year the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia and North Carolina will celebrate its 75th Anniversary, and I am most honored that the Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary Committee asked me to help commemorate the event with a special painting and print edition. The grand finale event will be held at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia, on September 10, 2010, and I’ve been invited to attend. The Framer’s Daughter in Galax will host a kick-off event this weekend, and we’ll release the print during the show, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Good Road—Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary will be released during my show with The Framer’s Daughter in Galax, Va., September 11-12. For more information, please contact the gallery at 276-236-4920. Included in the image, top to bottom and left to right, are: Peaks of Otter, the Farmstead at Humpback Rocks, Explore Park, Mabry Mill, the Blue Ridge Music Center, the Cone Manor House, the Linn Cove Viaduct, Linville Falls, and Looking Glass Rock. Also included are a stone bridge and the rhododendrons that one sees so prevalently along the Parkway.
My chapter focus this week is on the Central Iowa Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society. I’ve been privileged to be able to spend some time with the members of this remarkable chapter during the last several years when I’ve been in the Des Moines area for shows with Kenneth Paul Gallery. The Iowa countryside is beautiful, with lush corn and soybean fields and vineyards. It may be surprising to some that one of Iowa’s fastest growing crops is grapes, and numerous local wineries are appearing all over Iowa. The most famous showcase for Iowa’s wonderful products is the world-renowned Iowa State Fair, which ended its ten-day run in mid-August, with over one million attendees.
The Central Iowa Chapter was founded in 1987 and currently has thirty members. For the past five years, the Chapter’s major fundraiser has been a tea with a live and silent auction. Each year, they have raised enough money to sponsor one or two teachers to attend the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education’s Annual Creative Mind Conference. Last year, the Chapter was very pleased to be able to sponsor the teacher-daughters of two of their members. This year, they are sponsoring a Des Moines kindergarten teacher, whom they also helped in July with prep work for her classroom and collected school supplies for students in her school. The Chapter plans on continuing their support throughout the school year.
Members of the Central Iowa Chapter at work.
I am so grateful to our wonderful chapters who are sponsoring their local teachers to attend the Foundation’s Creative Mind Conference. This conference is so important, because it gives teachers creative ideas to reach learning different children and help them learn. The conference brings together educators to share ideas and experiences and help one another understand that not all children learn the same. There are so many wonderful, special people in this world who grew up with a learning difference and who blossomed with the help of a special teacher or mentor.
The teachers who attend the conferences return to their schools and share what they have learned with other teachers and also with parents and the chapter members who have sponsored them. The sharing of ideas with one another is so worthwhile and rewarding.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Voices from the Past, Envisioning the Future”, and it will be held October 23-25 at the American Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton, Virginia, with a special Sunday, October 25, brunch with me at the P. Buckley Moss Museum in Waynesboro. The Foundation has some scholarships available, and all you have to do to apply is mail or e-mail them and let them know why you would like to be awarded a scholarship to attend the conference: P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education, 152 P. Buckley Moss Drive, Waynesboro, VA 22980; PH: 540-932-1728; e-mail: foundation@mossfoundation.org.
L. to R.: Jean and Robert Humphrey and Museum Receptionist Marianne Fickling. Robert was the P. Buckley Moss Museum’s Monthly Mystery Winner for September. Robert and Jean were on their way home to Ames, Ia., when they stopped by the Museum on Labor Day. Jean would have been the winner of the $50 gift certificate, redeemable in the Museum’s gift shop, except Robert was a gentleman and held the door for her, making him the 11th visitor (and correct number) through the door that day. For more information on the Museum’s Monthly Mystery Winner Program, please see my February 11, 2009, newsletter.
This Friday, September 11, is the eighth anniversary of the horrific terrorist attacks in 2001. The day has officially been named Patriot Day, and I hope you will join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families and also for our soldiers who fight bravely to keep us safe and defend our freedom.
Love,
Pat
The beautiful quilt on the table in the foreground was given to me by Anita Mahoney during Quilt Camp at Sea’s 9-Night New England Cruise for a Cure. It goes perfectly in my sunroom in Mathews, Va. Thanks, Anita!
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2009